Already Freakin’ Out about Tomorrow ~ Pittsburgh at Cleveland!

Cleveland’s playoff hopes dimmed a bit last week following that horrible loss to Cincinnati. I was so pissed I didn’t even bother to write about it! I started to review the game on Monday, compile some notes and throw up a post… but the aggravation crept in and I threw in the towel.

On paper, it looked like the Browns started off well! Up 13-0 at the end of the first quarter! But upon further review it wasn’t that good. Browns QB Jason Campbell was horrible! Yeah, he helped engineer a 75 yard drive (43 of which were a run by Chris Ogbonnaya) but shits the bed twice from the 1 yardline. On second down he threw it way over TE Jordan Cameron who was open and running towards the back of the endzone. On third down he threw the ball into one of Cincinnati’s linemen with WR Greg Little wide open in the endzone!

Campbell hits Little for a 4 yard gain on 1st down, throws it over Ogbonnaya on second and incomplete to Gordon in the corner of the endzone on third.

Stupid field goal… up 6-0. Should be 14-0 if you ask me. I questioned the play calling on that drive. No run at all? When there’s no threat of a run, the defensive backs get better in coverage…

Oh well… It’s early yet!

On Cincinnati’s next possession, future Hall of Fame shutdown CB Joe Haden picks of Andy Dalton AGAIN, this time running it back for a touchdown! His first pick 6. Ever! Woo hoo! Even though we should be up 21-0, we’re up 13-0!

Check out these stats about Joe Haden against some notable WRs this season:

Not too shabby! Those notable receivers combine for an average of 73 yards a game this season. Haden allowed a combined average of 30 yards. He’s only allowed 1 touchdown this year, by the way!

Okay… that’s enough man love for Joe Haden…

It always cracks me up how some fans, coaches and players, will say, “If ya take away this play or that play, it changes the entire game…”

Well, if they didn’t play the second QUARTER last week, in which the Browns special teams melted down and the Bengals scored 31, Cleveland wins that game 20-10! Hear how stupid that sounds??? Anyway… I don’t wanna talk about last week any more…

BECAUSE IT’S STEELERS WEEK FOLKS!

Damn those uniforms are ugly!

I dunno what to expect to happen tomorrow. I DO know Pittsburgh started the season 0-4 but has won four of their last six games. Cleveland won three of their first five games, but lost four of their last five. The momentum goes to Pittsburgh.

Let’s not forget, though, that Cleveland is the 3rd ranked TOTAL defense in the league, and will be the best the Steelers will play thus far. They need to get some pressure on that big, stupid looking rapist, Ben Roethlisberger. And they need to sack the shit outta him! Hell, destroy his knee ligaments while you’re at it Brownies since we gotta play them again in week 17!

I’m confident that our special teams won’t suck tomorrow like they did last week.

My biggest fear is our offense. We need to air it out early to make the Steelers defensive backs less sassy. QB Campbell needs to stop this dink and dunk checkdown shit and throw the ball. Remember TE Jordan Cameron, dude? He’s a beast and needs to be targeted more as he’s pretty much a mismatch anywhere on the field.

It’s supposed to be cold and snowy tomorrow. That means a competent running game can help win. Having said that, I don’t wanna see RB Willis McGahee much at all. That experiment should be over; he’s just too slow. I was impressed with what Chris Ogbonnaya and Fozzy…

…(Ha ha! Sorry) Whittaker did last week and want to see more of them!

Like I said, our playoff hopes were dimmed last week, but not dashed… we’re still in the mix but it’s a messed up mix to say the least!

Here’s where the Browns stand in the the AFC playoff picture. In case you didn’t know, there are 16 teams in the AFC. Four teams win their divisions and there are two wild cards. Currently, Denver, Indy, New England and Cincinnati are winning their divisions and the Chiefs and NY Jets are the wild cards. After the 5-5 Dolphins, in seventh place, there’s a six way “tie” for eighth right now that includes the Raiders, Titans, Steelers, Ravens, Browns and Chargers. Cleveland is currently 12th in the AFC standings based on this ESPN breakdown of 8th place Oakland:

Wins tie break over Tennessee based on best win percentage in conference games. Wins tie break over Pittsburgh based on head-to-head sweep. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate San Diego (Oakland wins tie break over San Diego based on head-to-head win percentage). Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Cleveland (Pittsburgh wins tie break over Cleveland and Baltimore based on head-to-head win percentage). Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Baltimore (Pittsburgh wins tie break over Cleveland and Baltimore based on head-to-head win percentage).